Lizzie Douglas was born on June 3, 1897 in Algiers, Louisiana. She was the eldest from her 13 other siblings. Her parents Abe and Gertrude Douglas nicknamed her the Kid during her early childhood. At the age of 7 she and her family moved to Walls, Mississippi, which was just south of Memphis. The following year after she moved, she received her first guitar for Christmas. She began to practice and learn how to play both the banjo and the guitar and it was seen that she had a great talent as a musician. When she first began performing she did not use her first name Lizzie, but played under the name Kid Douglas. When she was 13 years old she ran away from her home to live on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee. She would play on street corners for most of her teenage years and would eventually go home when she ran out of money. She began to get noticed singing and playing guitar on the street corners. This brought an opportunity for her to tour, travel, and play with the Ringling Brothers Circus. Eventually she came back to Beale Street and got consumed in the blues scene. At the time, women, whiskey, and cocaine were high in demand with the people and places she would be around. She made her money by playing guitar, singing, and prostitution, which was not uncommon at the time. Most of the female performers were prostitutes because of financial desperation. It was said “She received $12 for her services-an outrageous fee for the time.” (Memphis Minnie Biography,1). She was known as a woman that was very strong and that could take care of herself.
She had been married three times in her life; first with Will Weldon sometime in the 1920s, then Joe McCoy (1929–1934), and finally to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe), in 1939. She and McCoy would perform together during their marriage. During this time, a talent scout from Columbia Records discovered her. When she and McCoy went to record in New York, she decided to change her name to Memphis Minnie. During the next few years she and McCoy released many singles and duets. She released the song “Bumble Bee” in 1930, which ended up being one of her favorite songs, and led her to a recording contract with the label Vocalion. Under this label, they continued to produce recording for two years, one of them being “I’m Talking About You”, which was one of her more popular songs. They soon decided to leave Vocalion and move to Chicago. She and McCoy introduced country blues to the urban environment and became very well known.
Memphis Minnie continued to have success throughout the years recording under many different labels like Decca Records and Chess Records. Some believe her fame was the reason for her divorce with McCoy due to jealousy and resentment towards her. She remarried after to Earnest Lawlars (a.k.a. Little Son Joe) and began recording material with him. She became very well known in the blues industry and ended up being one of the most famous blues performers of all time, competing with both men and women.
She continued to record throughout the 50’s, but her health began to become a problem for her. She retired from her musical career and ended up going back to Memphis. “Periodically, she would appear on Memphis radio stations to encourage young blues musicians. As the Garons wrote in Women With Guitar, 'She never laid her guitar down, until she could literally no longer pick it up.'” She suffered a stroke in 1960, which caused her to be bound by wheelchair. The following year her husband, Earnest “Little Son Joe” Lawlars died. She had another stroke a short while after and eventually ended up in the Jell Nursing Home. She could no longer survive on her social security income so magazines wrote about her and readers sent her money for assistance. On August 6, 1973 she died of a stroke. She was buried in an unmarked grave at the New Hope Cemetery in Memphis. A headstone paid for by Bonnie Raitt was erected by the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund on October 13, 1996 with 35 family members in attendance including her sister, numerous nieces (including Laverne Baker) and nephews. Her headstone is marked:
Lizzie "Kid" Douglas Lawlers
aka Memphis Minnie
The inscription on the back of her gravestone reads:
"The hundreds of sides Minnie recorded are the perfect material to teach us about the blues. For the blues are at once general, and particular, speaking for millions, but in a highly singular, individual voice. Listening to Minnie's songs we hear her fantasies, her dreams, her desires, but we will hear them as if they were our own."
After her death some of her old work began to surface and some of her songs were featured on blues compilations. She was one of the first 20 blues artists that were inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.
Kid Man Blues
Memphis Minnie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Good morning, blues, please shake hands with me
I've got the blues this morning, just as low as I can be
How can I sleep nights, baby, when you turn your back on me
How can I sleep nights, baby, when you turn your back on me
I'm gonna take my troubles, go down by the sea
You can eat 'n my kitchen, sleep in my bed
Fall down in my arms, pretty papa, rest your worried head
'Cause I need, need some loving now
I ain't got no one to love me, weeooo, like you know how
I woke up this morning with the rising sun
I woke up this morning with the rising sun
My pretty papa's a jockey, and he sure don't ride for fun
If you see my jockey, I said please tell him hurry home
If you see my jockey, I said please tell him hurry home
I ain't had no loving, Lord, since my jockey been gone
My jockey rode this morning, and my love come falling down
My jockey rode this morning, and my love come falling down
Said, ""I'll be your monkey woman, but please don't lead me around""
Take a race horse to run, a jockey to ride around
Take a pretty sealskin papa, make my love come down
'Cause I don't feel welcome, sleeping by myself
In Memphis Minnie's song "Kid Man Blues," she sings about her utter despair as she wakes up with the blues. She pleads for companionship, specifically from her lover who seems to have left her. She describes how she can't sleep without her lover and struggles to function without their love. She reminisces about the memories they shared, dining together in her kitchen and sleeping together in her bed. The lyrics convey her desperation as she begs her lover to come back home and restore her love. She ends on a hopeful note after her jockey comes back to her and she agrees to be his "monkey woman" again.
The song is a clear example of the importance of love and companionship in life. It shows how being left alone and unloved can cause immense pain and sorrow. Memphis Minnie's heartfelt delivery of the lyrics adds to the color of the song, and her voice communicates the melancholy tone of the message she is trying to convey.
Line by Line Meaning
Good morning, blues, please shake hands with me
Addressing the emotion of blues and its implications in one's life.
I've got the blues this morning, just as low as I can be
Describing the depth of despair and sadness the singer feels.
How can I sleep nights, baby, when you turn your back on me
Questioning the faithfulness of the singer's partner that keeps the singer up at night.
I'm gonna take my troubles, go down by the sea
The singer's plan to escape from their problems for a little while.
You can eat 'n my kitchen, sleep in my bed
Offering hospitality to someone dear to the singer.
Fall down in my arms, pretty papa, rest your worried head
Offering comfort and support to the said person.
'Cause I need, need some loving now
Expressing the need for physical intimacy.
I ain't got no one to love me, weeooo, like you know how
Acknowledging that the person is the only one who can fulfill the singer's needs.
I woke up this morning with the rising sun
Reflecting a new beginning or a change in the singer's state of mind.
My pretty papa's a jockey, and he sure don't ride for fun
Describing the occupation of the said person.
If you see my jockey, I said please tell him hurry home
Implying the loneliness of the singer without the support of the said person.
I ain't had no loving, Lord, since my jockey been gone
Reiterating the singer's need for the person and the difficult time since they left.
My jockey rode this morning, and my love come falling down
The expression of love and adoration for the said person on their return.
Said, "I'll be your monkey woman, but please don't lead me around"
Accepting the person unconditionally but also establishing boundaries to avoid being mistreated.
Take a race horse to run, a jockey to ride around
Establishing the idea that certain things require specific people to function properly.
Take a pretty sealskin papa, make my love come down
The need for the person's presence to experience true love and fulfillment.
'Cause I don't feel welcome, sleeping by myself
Expressing the discomfort and loneliness of sleeping alone without the person's comfort and love.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LAWLERS, MINNIE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@coravisser727
I do love it really so special to listen to this old blues awesome.Thank you so much .
@MrMikepresley
This woman inspires me; here she was, a woman in the south, very little money and still managed to get an impressive amount of her music recorded. The energy she had comes screaming out in this recording. TY for posting and God Bless
@richardwhitaker3835
I'm 63 and this was the Rock N Roll
of my Grandparent's days
(An were NDN an irish) non Black
Folks rocked also
@askinovic
Haha, thank you! I just love the song and wanted to share it... I'm glad to see that other people like it as much as I do!
@rckmmmm
this post is slick and cool. putting it up for us was generous. i guess that makes you a slick cool generous person right ? thats right. thank you sir. i appreciate that.